“He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went”

We know that words are powerful. When we say we are going to do something, we are expected to be a “person of our word.” We also have heard the phrase, “actions speak louder than words.” As powerful as words are, action must follow and action most of the time speaks louder than words. Word and action go together and many times are actions are effected and influenced by words either spoken or heard. Jesus is the Word made flesh. The mystery of the Incarnation is an example of the unity between word and action. Jesus is the Word of God and that Word made flesh, the Word in action. How many people did not recognize Jesus in His teachings and parables, but did recognize Him in His actions? Like the centurion who at the Cross said, “Truly this is the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54) many recognized who Christ truly was in His acts of love. In the person of Christ, there is no separation between the Word of God and the Action of God, they are intricately united.

“In the mystery of the Incarnation, we profess with the infallible Church that there are in Christ two really distinct natures, one human like ours and one divine or of one substance with God the Father, yet united in such a way that Christ is one Person and unchanged so that each nature remains truly itself. He is God from all eternity, and became man in time. This union is called the hypostatic union, which means personal union. Christ is only one person because His two perfect natures are united in one individual.” [1]

As Christians, we are called to imitate Christ. By our nature we are human, yet by God’s Grace we are able to share in God’s divine nature. What does this mean? This means that our nature is human, but though the Grace of God we have been given the divine life, which dwells with in us because of Grace. Christ shows us how to perfectly unite human nature with divine nature. Our goal as a Christian is to unite our human nature, which we were given at conception with the nature of God, which was given to us as a gift at baptism. “Grace is the supernatural gift that God, or his free benevolence, bestows on rational creatures for their eternal salvation. The gifts of grace are essentially supernatural. They surpass the being, powers, and claims of created nature, namely sanctifying grace, the infused virtues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and actual grace.” [2]

We are human by nature, which means our humanity is our natural state.. We are like God or divine by grace, which raises our humanity to a supernatural state. Supernatural literally means ‘above nature’. It is through Grace that we become fully human, lifting our human nature to the divine. Our ultimate goal is unity with God. “This state of union with God, for ‘the soul that has attained complete conformity and likeness of will (to the divine will), is totally united to and transformed in God supernaturally’.” [3] Union with God is not possible using only natural means; this is why we are given supernatural grace. If we believe that it is impossible to be united with God, then we do not believe in the supernatural power of God. For if we truly believe that it is God’s will for each of us to be united with Him, than we must believe His grace is powerful enough to make that possible.

How can we unite our human nature with the divine nature given to us through Grace?One, we can take seriously the Sacraments, which are means of Grace. We can prepare for them, accept them with whole hearts and live them out. Two, we can remember that our thoughts should be the thoughts of Christ, our words should be the words of Christ and our actions should be the actions of Christ. The word “Christian” means “little Christ” - we are to be like Christ. If our words became the words of Christ then we have united human nature with the divine life within. As a result, our human nature will shine and become most perfect because it will then be what it God created it to be, through, with and in Christ. This is what the priest prays in the Great or Final Doxology of the Mass and the faithful respond, “Amen.” “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.” [4] God is not overtaking or destroying our human nature, but rather perfecting our human nature through Grace. Through baptism we share in the “Divine Life,” sanctifying Grace is the “seed of glory” [5] planted in our soul. Our goal should be to allow this “seed of glory” to grow and reach its potential during our life. We have a share in the Divine Life, the question is how much will we share in this Divine Life we have been given. Mary is perfect, though, with and in her Son. The Saints were made perfect and traveled the road to heaven through, with and in Jesus Christ who is the road to heaven. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Three, we can remember that our thoughts, words and actions are easily influenced by what we see and hear. Are the things we see and hear pleasing to Jesus?

How are our actions effected or influenced by the conversation we have, by what we say and what we do? Words are powerful and once spoken are expected to be put into action. We might make a promise to someone or even dare someone to do something, each of these begin with words and usually end with action. How many times do we get a lyric stuck in our head that is contrary to the message of Christ and His Church? How many times do we continue to picture in our mind a scene from a movie, TV or Internet that continues to play over and over in our mind? How often are we influenced by what our friends and peers say or do?

What are the bad influences in your life? How have they caused you to sin? What are the good influences in your life? How have they helped you to avoid sin and live a life of virtue?

Why can’t we just believe, just profess with our words that Jesus is Lord? “There is a heresy (false teaching) called ‘faith alone’ or ‘sola fide.’ It is a basic principle of the Protestant Reformation. It declares that humanity is justified only by a confident trust in God through the saving merits of Jesus Christ. This confident trust called fides fiducialis (trustful faith) is present in those who are predestined to be saved. It is, therefore, a work of predestination and excludes the possibility of good works that, on Catholic premises, are also necessary for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says it all; we are saved by grace, through faith, which is acted out in charity (good works). Grace is primary, as it is only by God’s grace that we are capable of attaining salvation. We accept this grace through faith. Faith, which includes the Liturgy, Sacraments, prayers, teachings, and much more, is the dispenser of grace. This grace, accepted through faith, is acted out and must be acted out in charity (good works). For Jesus tells us that to whom much is given, much is expected, and that we must love others as He has loved us. He has loved us by giving us grace and faith. One of our obligations then, is to give the grace and faith we have received to others. We do this through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.” [6]

What helps us unite our will to the Will of God? “St. Hilary of Poitiers wrote that the true joy that leads all of us to heaven is following the will of God here on earth, and by this ‘obedience to the divine will, and not simply repeating his name’, we can obtain everlasting life.” [7] It is obedience. Our free will can be used for good or evil, when we use it for good; we use it for God and thus unite our will with His. Saint John of the Cross says that obedience and submission is much harder than good works. “Obedience makes us surrender our own will to adhere to God will as expressed in the orders of our superiors; and the perfection of charity, as well as the essence of union with God, consists precisely in the complete conformity of our will with the divine will.” [8]

The chorus says, “More than words is all you have to do to make it real, then you wouldn’t have to say, that you love me, yeah, cause I’s already know.” Through his actions the first son gave his father more than words. In fact his words said “no” but his action “yes”. As Christians are desire is to give our self completely to God. We want our thoughts, words and actions to conform completely to God. This is why in the Confiteor at the Mass we confess when we have not conformed our thoughts, words and deeds according to the will of God. “I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do…” [9] In the parable of the two sons the words and deeds of the sons are not integrated. One is correct in his words but incorrect in his deeds, while the other is incorrect in his words but correct in his deeds.

Integrity is “honesty or trustworthiness. The quality of being virtuous. Wholeness of character without duplicity or internal conflict of interests. It comes from the Latin integrare, to make whole; to present something in its entirety.”As Christians we are called to present our life in its entirety to God, our thoughts, words and actions. These three should match; we should think well, speak well and do well. The challenge of ever human is to have a wholeness of character. We value those who “keep their word,” or who “speak their mind.” These phrases do not just apply to the Christian but to all. As Catholics, the Church has identified in our Catechisms throughout history four basic human needs. These are the four pillars of the Catechism and we are expected to not just do well in one area, neglecting the rest. Neither can we choose one and leave out another. We are called to be people of integrity to make the four parts whole and present them in entirety to God.

The four pillars of the Catechism are the profession of faith, the celebration of the Christian mystery, Life in Christ and Christian prayer. These four pillars match with who we are as humans. We believe. We pray and we live and participate in the liturgy and sacraments. It is not enough to just profess, to believe. It is not enough just to pray and celebrate. We must live, putting into action our belief, prayers, liturgy and sacraments. We should live what we believe and we should believe what we pray.

Prayer is communication with God. If we are speaking and listening to God, we need to believe what we are saying and what we are hearing. If our relationship with God however ends with the conversation, then we are like the second son who speaks but then does not act. We should therefore enter the conversation with God, believe in the words exchanged in the conversation and then live out the conversation in our life.